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REPUBLIC OF TURKEY
THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS
RURAL DEVELOPMENT REPORT IN TURKEY
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AGRARIAN REFORM AND RURAL
DEVELOPMENT (ICARRD)
7-10 March 2006
Porto Alegre, Brazil
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Table of contents
Foreword
Introduction
1. Present Condition in Rural with Numeric Data
2. Soil and Water Sources
2.1. Land and Property Relation
2.2. Land – Inheritance Relation
2.3. Water Potential of Turkey
2.4. Water - Land Relation
3. Agricultural Structure
4. Forestry
5. Social Infrastructure and Services in Rural
5.1. Education
5.2. Health
5.3. Social Security
5.4. Training and Extension Services
6. Environment
7. Tourism and Culture
8. Organizations in Rural Areas
9. Socio-Economic Change in Rural Areas
10. Employment in Rural Areas
11. Situation of Women in Rural
12. Policy Framework With Regard to Agrarian Reform and Rural Development
13. The Reform in Agricultural Policy
14. Rural Development Activities
15.Participatory Rural Development Programme
16.Environmentally Based Agricultural Land Protection (Çatak) Program (2006-2007)
17. Lessons learned
18. Rural Development and EU Integration
19.Agricultural Master Plans
20- Recent Policy Framework
21. Literatures
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Foreword
The aim of this report is to present rural development studies to rural areas in Turkey,
to improve international collaboration on this issue, to share experiences related natural
resources, at this international conference Agrarian Reform And Rural Development
(ICARRD) on 7-10 March 2006 in Porto Alegre/Brazil.
Besides, rural development, agriculture, education, social security, employment,
statues of rural women in Turkey to increase civil society dialogs and improve aids is targeted
to give information to participants.
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Introduction
Turkey has an area of totally 78 million hectares of which 43 million hectare is identified as
utilized agricultural area including particularly arable crop area, permanent crops and pastures
and meadows and 21 million hectare as forest area.
According to the results of the General Population Census of 2000, Turkey has a population
of 67.8 million, 35% of which lives in a total of 37 366 villages. Approximately 7.6 million
people live in 20 482 forest villages located in or near the forestry areas which are the poorest
regions of Turkey in terms of their physical and socio-economic situation.
According to the 2001 Agricultural Census--Agricultural Holdings Survey, there are
3 021 190 agricultural holdings with an average size of 6.1 hectares, and almost all are
operated by a single household. The share of agriculture in total Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) and in total employment was 11.7% and 33.9%, respectively, in 2004. Although the
agricultural sector's share is steadily declining over time, it continues to take the largest share
especially in rural areas. According to the results of the 2003 Household Labour Force
Survey1, in settlements with a population of 20,000 and less, 67.8 percent of the labour force
is employed in agriculture, 7.4 percent in industry, and 24.8 percent in services. This figure
shows that, agriculture is still the first income generating activity in rural areas.
The low share of agriculture in GDP and the high employment share in total population are
indicative of a productivity problem within the country. Some of the main factors which
hinder profitable agricultural production can be listed as follows:
increasing fragmentation of land, due to inheritance laws
the family-owned and small-sized farming structures
agricultural production without examining soil ability and classification
poor infrastructure and mechanization and insufficient use of technology and inputs.
poor condition in animal breeding and lack of animal health care
lack of organization among producers
lack of integration with agricultural industry
lack of coordination among investing organizations
Inadequate advisory and extension services.
The main agricultural support instrument is Direct Income Support (DIS) which has been
implemented since 2001 with the start of Agricultural Reform Implementation Project
(ARIP). The total amount of payments under DIS budgetary item was about € 1,000 million in
2005 while the total agricultural support payment corresponding to € 2,248 million. The table
of the main agricultural support instruments is given below.
1
In the Household Labour Force Survey, settlements with a population of 20,000 and less are considered to be
rural.
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Table: Agricultural supports in Turkey, figures in approximate million Euro
Title of the aid scheme Aid Based on Legal Basis 2005
Expenditure
Direct Income Support Area (regardless of type or Communiques Published
1000.08
quantity of product) Annually
Diesel Support Area Communique 2005/38 243.2
Chemical Fertilizer Aid Area Communique 2005/42 162.3
Premium Payments (for Sun Flower, Cotton, Canola, Soy Bean, Olive Communiques Published
Quantity 376.2
Oil and Maize) Annually
Cereal Premium Decree on Support to Cereal
Quantity 125.0
Producers No: 2005/8872
Tea Support Decree on Support to Tea
Income Support: Quantity Producers (No: 2004/8302)
67.7
Structural Support: Yield Decree on Tea Trimming (No:
2004/7758)
Livestock and Animal Husbandry Support (Milk Premium, Meat
Premium, support for artificial insemination, certified seeds, Decree on Support For Animal
Quantity 206.65
foddercrops, support for fisheries, support for beekeeping Husbandry (No: 2005/8503)
Subsidized Credit Scheme for Farmers* Decree No: 2005/8378, Decree
Quantity No: 2004/6840 40.13
Farmer Transition Payments (for Hazelnut and Tobacco) Hazelnut: Decree No:
2003/5495
Area 0.36
Tobacco: Decree No:
2001/2705
Export Refund(**) Related Money Credit and
Quantity Coordination Council 24.8
Decisions
Mohair (Angora wool) Support Quantity Decree No: 2005/8534 0.76
Silk Cocoon Support Quantity Decree No: 2005/8534 0.86
Total 2,248.04
(*) under treasury budget
(**) The exchange rate parity used for Euro/USD; 2005: Euro=1.25 USD, 2006: Euro=1.26 USD
Source: own aggregation based on data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Undersecretariat for Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Industry and Trade
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Turkey‟s large assets of land and diverse geographical and climatic conditions allow different
agricultural activities. Turkey is among the leading producers of crops particularly cereals
(wheat, barley and corn), cotton, tobacco, fruits and vegetables and nuts. The total
agricultural export and import correspond to 6 billion US$ and 3.2 billion US$, while
approximately half of the total agricultural export is made to European Union (EU) in 2004.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) is the main body responsible for
agriculture and rural development policies in Turkey: it has centralised bodies in Ankara and
serves other regions via directorships in the provinces and counties, research institutes and
control units. The Ministry works in co-operation with the other governmental organizations
concerning the implementation and policy making for agricultural and rural development,
especially the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, The Ministry of Industry and Trade, The
Undersecretary of Foreign Trade, The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, the General
Directorate of State Hydraulics Works, the South Eastern Anatolia Project Regional
Development Administration and the State Planning Organisation, which is charged with
preparing the National Development Plans of the country and coordinating their
implementation. In addition to govenmental bodies, many non-governmental institutions are
involved in agricultural issues, for example; Agricultural Credit Cooperatives, Development
Cooperatives, Chambers of Agriculture, Unions of Producers etc.
The objectives and priorities of agriculture and rural development have recently changed in
line with the EU accession process and the World Trade Organisation Agriculture Agreement.
Since 1999 with the Helsinki Summit, Turkey is a candidate country of EU making the
alignment to acquis communitaire which result in policy changes on agricultural and rural
development policies. Before this time, Turkey‟s agricultural sector has been a rather closed
and domestically oriented sector. Until about 2000, policy was strongly supportive to
agriculture, via price support and input and credit subsidies. Price support was the most
important part of Turkish agricultural policy, State Economic Enterprises (SEEs) and
Agricultural Sales Cooperatives (ASCs) were commissioned to buy commodities such as
cereals, tobacco, tea and sugar beet from farmers at prices determined by the government.
Input subsidies were the second most important component of agricultural policy. Various
subsidies, grants and exemptions were provided with the purpose of reducing the cost of
inputs, including, credit, fertilizer, seed, pesticides and water. After 2000, with the
Agricultural Reform Program implemented by the government, administered prices and input
and credit subsidies were abolished, SEE‟s and agricultural sales cooperatives were
reconstructed, a new agricultural support called Direct Income Support (DIS) corresponding
to 75% of all agricultural support was introduced and the agricultural production was
reconstructed by supported alternative crops. The basic policy objective has become market
orientation and competitiveness and food safety, environment and rural development has
gained importance.
Turkey has a strategic importance in her region having various national subterranean
resources. These resources in rural areas tend to be consumed heavily by the rural habitants.
Therefore, it is desirable to keep the balance between urban and rural areas and efficient use
of resources, it is necessary to supply services into the rural habitant so that modernization
and development goals could be achieved. This necessity has brought to rural development
policies on the agenda.
To meet the requirements of rural population, especially in developed countries, effective
work have been conducted, while rural development experiences have started in Turkey after
planned period. During this period, a lot of effort has been done to accelerate development in
the rural areas, but unfortunately it is not possible to say that problems in rural areas have
been solved and objectives of the projects have been satisfactorily achieved.
The developments could be realized in the shortest period, if the situation of the rural would
be analyzed correctly; social, economical, cultural and political facts could be seen and
solution of these drawbacks could be modeled accordingly.
1. Present Condition in Rural with Numeric Data
According to the results of General Population Census in 2000, the total population of Turkey
is 67.803.927, while in 2004, the figure is 71 million;
65 % of the total population (44.006.274) lives in cities and towns
35 % of the total population (23.797.653) lives in villages
There are total of 81.841 allocation unit (2002),
3216 municipalities (2265 of which is village including -belde- municipalities)
36.527 villages and
42.098 related units
The residential units are scattered in rural areas. This untidy structure is usually seen in the
productive agricultural lands. Due to this, difficulties and inefficiencies in supplying physical
and social infrastructure services to these residential units are faced. However, electricity has
already been supplied to all of these villages. Drinking water has been supplied for 80.3 % of
the villages and related settlements
Infrastructure: The village roads have a very important role in terms of supplying goods to
the market on time and meet the social requirements of people whom live in rural areas. There
are 291.585 km village road in Turkey. In the respect of January 2004, the structure of the
highway network is formed with;
37 % asphalt
44 % stabilized
14 % smoothed
4 % raw
1 % cements concrete
2. Soil and Water Sources
Soil and water are the most important natural resources in the rural areas. The term of “the
more pressure the more yield” is based on the concern about usage of natural resources in
rural areas. Rural population does not have enough knowledge about using natural resources
efficiently; besides they have insufficient processing technology. As a result of this, soil and
water resources are getting depleted.
2.1 Land - Property Relation
Turkey has about 78 million hectares total land and 41 million hectares of this land is being
controlled by National Treasury. 50 million hectares of this land is planned to be registered.
417.000 square kilometers of Turkey is available to cadastre and as of May 17, 2005, 384.542
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square kilometers (92.22 % of total) land registry has been completed. However, registration
problems still continue in most of the surveyed area. Time to time, it is seen that one piece of
land has been registered to more than one person. Property rights problems also continue in
some forest areas.
2.2 Land - Inheritance Relation
One of the major reasons of the land being small in size and fragmented is the (article 589 of)
Civil Law about Inheritance and Transition section. Due to the inadequacy of Inheritance Law
and budget insufficiency, agricultural lands are divided into small pieces and fragmented.
That causes agricultural holdings operating under economical optimum point.
Furthermore, according to 2001 agricultural census 3,1 million agricultural enterprises exist
in Turkey.
2.3. Water Potential of Turkey
Water sources in Turkey are divided into 26 major river-basins as water aggregations and
drainage areas. The annual average rainfall intensity is 653 mm in these river-basins. There
are 186.5 billion cubic meter (m3) of surface water. Total usable water potential is 112 billion
m3, including 95 billion m3 of drinkable water, 14 billion m3 underground and 3 billion m3
cross border originated water.
Total water consumption in Turkey per year is 39 billion m3 (34.8 % of total). Water
consumption composition for sectors is as follows: 11% for industries, 15% for drinking and
usage and 74% for agricultural irrigation.
2.4 Water - Land Relation
25 million 753 thousand hectares of the total agricultural lands are suitable for irrigation.
However, due to insufficient technical and economical capacity, 8 million hectares can be
irrigated. But presently about 4.8 million hectares are being irrigated at the end of 2004. 95 %
of irrigation is done by the surface irrigation techniques.
3. Agricultural Structure
Fragmented and small size land is the main problem of Turkish agriculture since this makes
the production cost high and lowers marketing power of the farmers.
Turkey has 78 million hectares area 36 % of this area (28.05 million hectares) cultivated
land, 27.6 % is (21.505 million hectares) meadow and pasture, 29.8 % is (23.228 million
hectares) forestry and bush lands, 1.1 % is (894 thousand hectares-VIII. class land) non
agricultural land, %3.9 is (3,061 million hectares-VIII. class land) other lands and %1.5 is
(1.158 million hectares) water surface.
According to Agricultural Census in 2001, there are 3.075.516 agricultural holdings in
Turkey. Holdings have totally 23 million hectares of land. Average holding size is 6.1
hectares. The number of holdings that produce both livestock and plant are; 2,072,897. The
rate of holdings that produce only livestock to total companies is 2.4 %. The share of farm
sector in the GNP is 11.2 % (current price 2004).
Composition of agricultural production is divided as 68 % plant production, 25.8 % livestock,
2.7 % forestry, 3.5 % fishery products (2003).
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4. Forestry
There is 20.7 million hectares forest area in Turkey. 99% of forest areas is under State
management. Recently, corporate bodies and individuals have been encouraged by the
government to afforest.
7.5 million people live in 20.482 forest villages. Forest villagers are the poorest segment in
Turkey. In order to increase income level of forest villagers, ORKÖY (Directorate General of
Forest and Village Relations) has been established.
There are 2921 development cooperatives in the framework of ORKÖY.
5. Social Infrastructure and Services in Rural Areas
5.1. Education
Literacy rate for six years old and above is 90 % of total population in Turkey. This value is
82 % for men, 73 % for women in rural areas. The general illiteracy ratio of women in Turkey
is 23 %.
In rural areas, there is lack of teaching staff and physical infrastructure. Therefore,
improvement of physical conditions and increase in the number of teachers are needed for a
modern educational profile in rural areas.
5.2. Health
Most of the rural people are treated in poor conditions and they need infrastructural
improvements. This situation is important not only for the health but also for the
environmental issues.
Generally rural health services are being conducted by local health clinics, health cabins, and
mobile health services. There is also lack of health staff in these areas.
5.3. Social Security
Common Social Security System has not covered all parts of rural community yet. There are
total of 7.400.000 agricultural labors (SIS-Household Labor Force Surveys-2004) in Turkey.
However, BAG-KUR(Social Security Organization for Artisans and the Self-Employed)
insurance systems covers 1,000,935 and also SSK (Social Security Institution) insurance
system covers 182,000 rural inhabitants in 2005.
There are 2,800,000 rural inhabitants without any social security system. According to
statistics, 1,000,000 people have green cards all over Turkey (it is given poor to get health
service free of charge) and most of this population lives in rural areas.
Agricultural production heavily depends on natural conditions. Thus, there is instability in the
income levels in rural community. Rural community in Turkey includes a number of
subsistence land owners, landless farmers (renters or users of relatives‟ land), unpaid family
workers, unregistered labor. This structure needs urgently well-organized social security
system.
5.4 Training and Extension Services
Agricultural training and extension are the most important ways to improve agricultural
production. The main problems in agricultural training and extension service are realized to
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be lack of infrastructure, resources and skilled people. There are number of extension systems
applied in Turkey so far namely, traditional extension, advisory extension, training and visit
system and, participatory-voluntary and paying extension system. Government body runs
extension service in rural areas.
6. Environment
Being a transition region between Asia and Europe, Turkey has a rich flora and fauna
varieties and original species. It is also in a central position of gene origins of Siberia,
Mediterranean and Near East.
There are 120 mammal animal species and over 9000 plant species in Turkey. 33% of our
plant species are endemic. We have a rich flora with about 3000 endemic plant species
compared to Europe‟s 1200 plant species. Endemic plants are mostly found in steppe areas.
These areas are 21 million hectares and covers 36% of our lands.
Birds are found in the conservation areas (National parks) include cranes, ducks, geese, gulls,
ibis, heron and flamingoes. Among the wild animals in Turkey are boar, deer, wild goats and
sheep, wolves and wildcats.
Nine sites in Turkey are on the Ramsar list of Wetlands of International Importance. Two of
the areas in Turkey, which are famous for their calcareous sediment, are the Göreme Valley
and Pamukkale which are World Heritage sites.
Considering the ecological entity, protecting the ecosystem areas, biological varieties and the
nature are the main important issues for the sustainable environment in Turkey.
7. Tourism and culture
Historical assets of past civilizations can be seen anywhere in Turkey from the big cities to
smaller towns and rural settlements; from the mountain tops, sacred valleys to the sea bed.
The settlement pattern in Turkey today is more or less the same as it had been through the
ages of history. Most cities have the remains of successive civilizations side by side or one on
the top of the other; where cultural values intermingled through centuries.
Tourism in rural areas has recently shown diversity depending on the consumption and needs.
These are; water sports, air sports, bird observation, climbing, cave tourism, hunting,
introduction of local products, handy crafts, the rug business, etc.
Infrastructural support including basic services should help the development of rural
economy.
8. Organizations in Rural Areas
Public sector mostly meets the requirements of rural community by supplying major services.
Besides the public sector, civil society organizations also support some parts of studies.
Special provincial administrations, municipalities and local administrations, professional
farmer organizations (chambers of agriculture), producer unions, irrigation and drinking water
unions, village service providers are the major rural organizations which provide important
contribution to rural areas.
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There are several socio-economic semi-official and civil society organizations operating in
rural community of Turkey. The most important one is the agricultural sales cooperatives
which operate commodity bases such as olive and olive oil, cotton, hazelnuts, figs, sunflower,
soybean, canola, mohair and wool, peanuts, raisin, apricot, rose and rose oil, legumes, red
pepper, citrus and bananas, forestry products; there are also a number of cooperatives and
producer unions who serve farmers regarding monetary affairs and different agricultural
commodities in rural sector. They are; Agricultural Credit, Agricultural Development,
Irrigation, Fishery Products, Beet Planters, Bee and Bee Products, Milk and Dairy Products,
Cattle Breeders Association, Cut Flowers, Silkworm, etc.
9. Socio-Economic Change in Rural Areas
Free market economy which started after 1980s in Turkey, due to insufficient knowledge and
missimplementation at the beginning, caused some negative impacts on some sub sectors of
agriculture. These effects caused a insufficiencies on for example input supply and
agricultural raw material industry.
Privatization of some State Economic Enterprises, such as TSEK (Turkish Dairy Industry)
and EBK (Turkish Beef and Fish Institution), Agricultural Equipment Institution (TZDK),
Tobacco and Tobacco Products (TEKEL), which provide input for agricultural production and
contribute marketing, caused increase in input prices so that, it made difficult for some small
scale subsistence holdings to work economically and to produce agricultural commodities at
reasonable prices. As a result of this, many agricultural holdings have changed owner or
postponed agricultural production.
Moreover, there are some other important factors which have negative impact on the rural
sector. These are; first, inheritance system causing fragmentation on the productive
agricultural fields; second, inefficient market intervention made by government cause market
failure; third, lack of powerful democratic marketing organizations in agricultural commodity
based running by producers themselves, fourth, lack of effective agricultural policy and
necessary financial, technical and administrational instruments of government bodies.
Therefore, all these situations forced some of rural inhabitants to immigrate to urban areas. As
a result, traditional large family-type tend to change into small modern urban-type of family.
Depending on the socio-economic diversification of regions, rural community illustrates some
different economic power and cultural development. It can be seen that in developed regions
that commodity production are done increasingly for the market in rural areas.
10. Employment in Rural Areas
Economically active population in agriculture (over 12 age group) is 12.527.284 (Statistical
Year Book of Turkey 2004).
The total employment in Turkey is 21.791.000 and the rural workforce is 7.400.000 over 15
age group in (2004). The share of the agricultural sector in total employment is steadily
declining and it was almost 34% in 2004.
The state employment policy in rural areas covers limited time period by providing basic
projects. For this reason sustainability has not been provided on factor bases such as natural
resources, rural tourism, handy crafts, rural industry and various local agricultural products,
etc. If the projects have covered the social aspects of the rural community then it would make
the government able to increase the employment volume.
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Another important issue regarding to rural employment is the lack of education. Since rural
people are less educated than people living in the urban areas, it is not possible for them to be
employed directly in the industry and service sectors. Hence, studies about rural infrastructure
in these areas should be taken into account with socio-economic value and employment
opportunities have to be evaluated in this frame work.
In order to enhance employment and build well organized rural economical structure, some
recommendations are as follows:
Physical infrastructure should be developed in rural areas where necessary. Namely,
village residences, village roads, drinking water, electricity, education, communication
and services, health and social security, sewer system etc. should be improved or
provided.
Optimum size of holdings should be established by providing budget and reorganizing
necessary institution for the land consolidation.
Agricultural holdings should be modernized to establish competitiveness and
sustainability, quality of agricultural commodities should be improved as well. This
could bring employment opportunity together.
Solving financial problems and providing marketing opportunities to the farmers will
improve employment opportunities in the rural.
Training and Education in rural has vital importance. This makes rural people to be
able to transfer into the industry and service sectors. Agricultural and industrial
integration will increase employment opportunities.
Diversification of farm holdings to non-agricultural activities should be supported and
tourism activities should be encouraged.
Agro-industry to process on some agricultural commodities should be established in
rural areas. In this process, labors who will be working in this sector have to be trained
and educated about their new professions.
11. Situation of Women in Rural
Due to the level of regional development differences, position of women in society has been
changing. Rural women have different condition from the women in urban in respect to
tradition, custom, life stile and occupational environment.
73 % of employees are men and 27 % are women in total working population (22.7 million in
2005) while this figures are 64.4 % and 35.6 % respectively in rural areas. However, women
farmers and labors who participate in every activity of production do not take enough shares
from the opportunities of economical development. In rural community, particularly women
involved in labor and have a lot of activities such as house works, involving agricultural and
livestock production and handicraft non-agricultural and other profitable activities.
6
Most of the women in farm business are unpaid since they are family workforce. They earn
their wage only when they work at another farm. The average salary of women farmers is 286
New Turkish Liras which is even lower than the national minimum wage.
Working conditions and periods, salaries, shelter and health conditions, social security issues
should be taken into account for the future improvement and restructuring of the sector.
12. POLICY FRAMEWORK WITH REGARD TO AGRARIAN REFORM AND
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Five-Year National Development Plans have been prepared by the State Planning
Organisation since 1963. Currently, the framework of national social and economic
development of the country has been settled by the Long-term Strategy: 2001-23 and by the
Eighth Five-Year National Development Plan 2001-05 (FYNDP).
The Long Term Strategy for the period 2001-2023 was prepared in order to ensure that
Turkey can benefit, at the highest level, from the opportunities to be aroused from the recent
economic and social changes experienced throughout the world. The basic target of the long-
term strategy is to make Turkey an influential global power in the 21st century attaining the
highest level in culture and civilisation, manufacturing products at world standards, sharing
the income equitably, securing human rights and responsibilities, realising supremacy of the
law, participatory democracy, secularism, freedom of religion and conscience. Other targets
of the strategy includes getting higher shares from the world production by ensuring
transformation into an information society, raising quality of life of the society, raising the
level of education and health in the society, improving the income distribution, strengthening
scientific and technological capacity, developing new technologies, enhancing effectiveness
in infrastructure services and protecting the environment.
In the strategy, it is expected that shares of agriculture, industry and service sectors in total
value added will be 5, 30 and 65 percent, respectively, in 2023. The basic change in the
structure of employment is envisaged to be in the agriculture and service sectors, and the
share of agriculture at the end of the period is expected to decrease to 10 percent.
The Five-Year National Development Plan (2001-2005) objectives were set to improve the
life quality of the society, to start a continuous and stable growth process, to realize basic
transformations within the process of European Union membership, to ensure integration
with the world and to attain more powerful, influential and respectful role both global and
regional. The European Union was set to be one of the focal points in Turkey`s globalisation
process. In line with the Helsinki Summit decisions where the candidate status of Turkey for
membership was approved, it was pointed out in the Plan that the necessary steps required
towards realization of the membership target shall be taken. During the Plan period, efforts
shall be accelerated for taking measures for meeting the Copenhagen criteria and adoption of
the Community legislation (Acquis Communautaire).
Within the framework of the agriculture policy the basic target is set as to establish an
organised, highly competitive and sustainable agricultural sector, which considers the
dimensions of economic, social, environmental and international development as a whole,
within the framework of the principle of efficient resources utilisation as a whole.
Furthermore, balanced and adequate nutrition of the growing population will be the essential
objective, within the framework of the principle regarding food safety. For he rural
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development policy within the framework of the principle of sustainable development,
increasing income and employment by the activation of local potential is the basic objective.
Development of human capital resources, supporting non-agricultural income-generating
activities to increase income of rural population, extending and improving infrastructural
services, promoting the awareness of civil society and the philosophy of participation, and
enhancing the interest of non-governmental organizations becomes important with FYNDP.
Within the context of economic and social harmonisation of Turkey to EU standards in the
framework of the accession, in order to form the basis for the use of pre-accession financial
supports between the years 2004-06, the Preliminary National Development Plan (PNDP) was
prepared. The PNDP addresses the issue of rural development mainly in the area of
“Increasing the Economic Power of Regions, Reducing the Interregional Disparities of
Development and Accelerating Rural Development”, which is the fourth development axis of
the plan. In this axis, special importance is attached to rural development and it is envisaged
that in rural areas:
Fields of employment should be increased and income-generating activities promoted;
The capacity should be developed for more efficient use of agricultural land;
The quality of life for the rural population should be improved through the use of
modern agricultural techniques;
Employment should be provided in non-agricultural sectors such as tourism, textiles,
weaving and handicrafts; and
Rural development should be promoted by extending non-agricultural income-
generating activities in disadvantaged areas.
The developments in the sector and the need to accelerate the reform initiatives in the
agricultural sector brought about the adoption of an Agricultural Strategy Paper comprising
the years 2006-10. The strategy was adopted by the High Planning Council on November 20,
2004. In the strategy the framework of the development of the agricultural sector was set up
within the context of national strategies and objectives and by considering EU integration.
The strategic objectives were set up as;
Sustainable growth of agricultural production and improvement of product
quality.
Improvement of food security and safety measures.
Strengthening of competitive capacities of farms.
Improvement of agricultural markets and strengthening of farm-market
linkages.
Raising of rural incomes and improvement of rural living conditions.
Strengthening of farmer organizations.
In the context of the strategic objectives, the agricultural support instruments to be
implemented between 2006-2010 were identified. Agricultural Support instruments consist
of; Direct Income Support (DIS) Payments, Deficiency Payments (Premium), Compensatory
Payments (Farmer Transition), Livestock Support, Crop Insurance Support, Rural
Development Support, Environment conservation Payments (CATAK) and other supports
including export subsidies, selected credit supports and research and development aids and
some input supports.In the strategy paper, direct payments were decreased to 45%, and new
8
agricultural support instruments were introduced, for example, rural development grants
corresponding to 10%, and environmental conservation grants corresponding to 5% of total
agricultural support. The share of agricultural support instruments in the agricultural support
budget was identified as follows:
Table: Agricultural supports in Agricultural Strategy Paper (2006-2010)
Budget
Agricultural Support Instruments Share (%)
DIS Payments 45
Deficiency Payments 13
Livestock Support 12
Rural Development Support 10
Compensatory Payments-Alternative crops 5
Crop Support 5
Environment Support 5
Other Support Payments 5
100
Total
It was pointed out in the strategy paper that the funds allocated for agricultural support would
not be lower than %1 of GNP.
The PNDP was revised by the First Mid-Term Programme which covers the years 2006-08,
aiming at shaping the state policies on the basis of strategic aims and objectives and allocation
of resources within this framework. In the Programme, rural development has again been
included in the axis of “Regional Development and Reducing the Interregional Disparities of
Development”. The agricultural strategies and measures have been included in sectoral
policies.
The National Rural Development Strategy (NRDS) has been prepared in conformity with the
National Development Plans and within the view of harmonisation for the EU‟s rural
development policy and adopted by High Planning Council on 25 January 2006. The strategy
document constitutes a specialised guideline for rural development in which the quantified
analysis of rural situation, development opportunities, results of previous implementations,
required strategies and priorities have been identified. The main target of rural development
strategy has been identified as: achieving better living and working conditions for Rural
community, in their territories, utilising local resources , and preserving natural and cultural
assets. The strategic objectives of the strategy have been identified under four items in which
the specific priorities have been settled as;
Economic Development and Job Creation
Attainment of Competitive Agriculture and Food Sectors.
- Enhancement of Organization and Knowledge Level of Producers
- Efficient Utilization of Water and Land Resources
- Increasing the Competitiveness of Agricultural and Food Industry Enterprises
- Strengthening the Control Structures of Food Quality and Consumer Protection
Diversification of Rural Economy
Improvement of Human Resources, Organization Level and Local Development
Capacity
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Strengthening Education and Health Services
Combating Poverty and Increasing the Employability of Disadvantaged Groups
Strengthening Local Development Capacity
Improving rural physical infrastructure and quality of life;
Improvement of Rural Infrastructure
Improvement and Protection of Rural Settlements
Protection and improvement of the rural environment.
Improvement of Environment-Friendly Agricultural Practices
Protecting Forest Ecosystems and Sustainable Utilization of Forest Resources
The Management and Improvement of Protected Areas
The NRDS is prepared in order to;
Constitute a comprehensive policy framework for rural development and ensure
harmonization with the EU Rural Development Policy,
Form a basis for Rural Development Plan (2007-2013) which will be prepared in the
framework of the EU pre-accession assistance programme for rural development
(IPARD)
Provide a perspective to relevant stakeholders involved/will be involved in the
preparation and implementation of the rural development programmes and projects
financed by either national or international resources.
13. THE REFORM IN AGRICULTURAL POLICY
Until about 2000, the agricultural policy was strongly supportive to agriculture resulting from
the traditional policy objectives which were especially to provide self sufficiency and increase
the nutritional level of people. Price support and input subsidies were the most important
instruments of the policy causing market distortion.
In the context of the agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in
December 1999, the Agricultural Reform and Implementation Project (ARIP) started in 2000
with the main principle which was to liberalise agricultural markets and market organizations,
to phase out the support system of administered output prices and input subsidies and to
compensate farmers by means of non-distorting Direct Income Support (DIS) payments
granted per hectare to all farmers.
The ARIP composes: i) an adjustment portion designed to provide some of the funds for the
first round of Direct Income Support (DIS) payments to farmers; and ii) an investment
portion, which consist of four components- a) building up the National Registry of Farmers
(NRF) which is used to administer the DIS system and widening the inclusion of agricultural
areas in the land cadaster; b) Farmer Transition grants paid to eligible farmers to assist in the
conversion to alternative agricultural crops from hazelnuts and tobacco production, as
governmental supports to these crops are reduced; c) an Agricultural Sales Cooperatives and
Cooperative Union (ASCs/ASCUs) Restructuring component which aims to make
ASCs/ASCUs independent, financially autonomous and self-managed organizations serving
their farm members by providing financial assistance (severance payments for retrenched
workers) and technical assistance during restructuring process; and d) support for project
management and implementation.
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The primary development objective of the ARIP is to help implement the agricultural reform
programme and provide agricultural producers and the agro-food sector incentives to increase
productivity in response to real comparative advantage. At the same time, the project is
designed to cushion the potential short-term adverse impacts associated with the removal of
production-based support, and facilitate the transition to efficient production patterns. ARIP is
also an instrument to assist for accession to the EU by increasing the efficiency of the sector
and the economy at large, thereby helping to meet one of the most basic pre-conditions set
down by the EU: that the applicant states have economies that are efficient enough to be
competitive in the unified market.
Direct Income Support (DIS) and National Farmer Registry System (NFRS)
As partial compensation for the removal of output support and input subsidies, DIS system
was introduced starting from 2001. NFRS establishment activities were initiated also in 2001
with the main objective to create a system for making DIS payments. Although the system
was poor and not in electronic form at the start, it has been improved with years and
additional data were collected (such as land size, crop type, ownership status, irrigation status,
yields, planting and harvesting time etc.). By the end of 2004, 2.7 million farmers and 17
million hectares of land have been registered corresponding to almost 90% of the total
agricultural land (except rangeland and meadows as well as forest lands) and 91% of the
farmers. About 20 million parcels have been registered and 197 different types of crops have
been introduced in the system. There are 884 data entry points of which 81 are in Provincial
Directorates and 803 are in County Directorates. About 10,000 MARA staff have been
involved in the NFRS related activities including application accepting, data entry and as
members of Determination and Arbitration Committees.
Within the DIS system an annual flat- rate payment per hectare was given to farmers. The
flat-rate payment per hectare amounted in 2005 to about EUR 95. Eligibility conditions are
arranged in accordance with the annually published legislations and are as following;
- Payments are directed to farmers, who were registered with the National Farmer Registry
System in the period of agricultural activity.
- In order for farmers to receive DIS payments, they must update their details in the NFRS
and renew their applications. If there has been any change in respect of the title to the related
land, this new situation will be taken into consideration in such updates.
- Farmers received DIS payments based on the area of farmlands registered in the NFRS,
which they have cultivated during the year, on condition that the maximum area eligible for
payment should be limited up to 50 hectares (including).
- DIS payments are paid to farmers only if the total area of the farmland is larger than 0.1
hectare.
DIS Scheme does not oblige farmers for production. Agricultural land either needs to be tilled
(cultivated to produce crops) or otherwise sustained for agricultural use. Both categories of
land are eligible for DIS coverage regardless of the fact that the land itself may or may not be
in actual production. The Communique on Direct Income Support was published annually.
The DIS system was modified in 2005 in line with the Agricultural Strategy Paper (ASP) and
a supplementary DIS package was launched in addition to the basic DIS system. Basic DIS
payments are made to the users of land either cultivated or otherwise sustained for agricultural
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use. On the other hand, additional DIS payments are granted to the farmers who undertake
soil analysis, practice organic farming or certified seed on their land.
Farmer Transition (Alternative Crops)
The aim of this component is to encourage farmers to cease producing crops which are
currently heavily over-produced, by offering one-time payments to cover the cost of switching
to alternative activities. At present, compensatory payments are made to the growers of
hazelnut and tobacco that shift to alternative crops. Such measures, however, are not easy to
enforce. Individual farmers are not interested in giving up or reducing their production. Based
on the past performance, the need to increase the area payments for hazelnuts is introduced in
agricultural strategy paper and the area payments for hazelnuts has been increased.
Restructuring of Agriculture Sales Co-Operatives and Co-Operative Unions
(ASCs/ASCUs)
All sustainable ASCUs were restructured to function as effective co-operatives owned by, and
operating for, ASCs and the ASCUs are fully owned by and operating for farmer members; by
2005. Poorly performing ASCUs have ceased operations.
14. RURAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
Legal status of villages in rural areas described with the Village Law, which was put into
action in 1924. With these regulations legal state of farmers was defined and an autonomous
structure for villages was provided. Later on “Law of Providing Land to Farmer” was applied
in 1945.
“The Land Protection and Utilization Law” recently has been put into action to protect
agricultural land in misusing, including minimum size concept, which is to keep the land in
optimum size regionally to make production economically.
The rural development action has begun in the planned period and has continued until today
with the applied (ended) and ongoing projects. The foreign finance associations are
supporting rural development projects in Turkey. Headlines of these projects are as follows:
Development Project on Fresh Vegetable and Fruit (MEYSEP)
Çorum - Çankırı Rural Development Project
Erzurum Rural Development Project
Bingöl-Muş Rural Development Project
Development Project of Stock Breeding ( five projects)
Agricultural Extension and Applied Research Projects (TYUAP 1-2)
Yozgat Rural Development Project
Ordu and Giresun Rural Development Project
Sivas and Erzincan Rural Development Project
Eastern Anatolia Basin Development Project
Determining Suitable Methods for Common Forestry Development Project
Commodity Stock Exchange Development Project
Eastern Anatolia Project ( DAP)
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Southeastern Anatolia Project ( GAP)
Eastern Black Sea Region Development Project (DOKAP)
Eastern Anatolia Development Project (DAKAP)
It is not possible to say that, all these projects implemented so far could meet the whole
expectations of the rural community satisfactorily, including prevention of immigration.
Problems of rural areas are too complicated; therefore, more effective services should be
injected into the rural by applying integrated rural development projects. It is also necessary
to establish well organized coordination between government institutions and civil society
organizations.
After 1970‟s, following the planning period in Turkey rural development projects, co-
financed by foreign finance, especially by the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD), the World Bank, Islamic Development Bank began to be implemented
in accordance with the strategies identified in the National Development Plan.
The rural development projects cover areas such as development of agriculture and animal
husbandry, irrigation, improvement of irrigated areas, construction of village roads,
construction of forest roads, drinking water ponds, supply of drinking water, the increase of
agricultural and dairy production, and afforestation.
They are usually implemented at provincial or regional level and especially have targets as
to;
- increase the efficiency and quality of plant and animal production,
- develop rural infrastructure,
- develop employment opportunities and new economic activities,
- increase awareness of rural communities,
- protect environment and forests,
- prevent erosion and sustainable use of soil and water resources
The details of some of the rural development projects implemented in Turkey are as follow;
Yozgat Rural Development Project (1991-2001)
The overall objective of the Project was increasing the income and the living standards of
farmers through enhancing rural infrastructure and increasing herbal and animal production.
The specific objectives were a sustainable improvement in the living standards of the poor
farmers in the province of Yozgat by the way not destroying the the natural resources in the
province and increasing the production quality of those resources as far as possible. For this
reason, increasing the agricultural production, improving the rural infrastructure, developing
the irrigation and providing the agricultural credit were also aimed. The content of the
Project was; Rural Infrastructure, developing the medium-sized irrigation, plant production in
dry conditions, developing animal husbandry, forestry, income-providing activities.
The total project cost was 40.5 million US $ of which 16.4 US$ was provided by
International Fund for Agriculture and Rural Development (IFAD).
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As a result of the project activities, individual development was emphasized as well as
community development. It is known that the national development is carried out as a result
of individual and community developments which could exemplify for the community.
Permanent and sustainable profits were tried to be provided to our farmers and national
agriculture with the activities of the project, and success could be achieved in these activities.
Eastern Anatolia Water Basin Rehabilitaton Project (1983-2001)
With the support of World Bank, in 1993 Eastern Anatolia Water Basin Rehabilitation project
initiated in the provinces of Adıyaman, Elazığ and Malatya including the provinces of
Kahramanmaraş, Adana, Sivas, Isparta, Antalya, İçel, Gaziaantep and Şanliurfa totally in 88
micro-basins. The total project cost was 109 million US$ of which 77 million was World
Bank support.
The objectives of the Project were the protection of plant and water resources in the Middle
Fırat Basin, located in the Eastern and South-East Anatolia Regions; the forestation on the
upper parts of the rivers pouring to dams; the increase of the dams‟ economical lives by
means of prevention of the erosion. The works of soil protection and meadow reclamation,
and providing the promotion of various income-providing agricultural activities to encourage
farmer participation on the way of reaching to this aim. In accordance with these objectives
the content of the project included; Aforestation, erosion control, soil protection, meadow
reclamation, agricultural and income-providing activities and rural infrastructure.
With the project, 2382 hectare meadow reclamation studies were conducted, extension studies
were given emphasis on a 1124 hectare area by establishing demonstrations, the application of
fallow reduction on a 9813 hectare area and the application of Agronomic Package which
provides farmers with related profit-increasing techniques in on a 7886 hectare area, and the
plantation of various fodder plants on a 1903 hectare area had been carried out.
Moreover, 1728 units of hives with bees were distributed to the farmers as an income-
providing activity, (watery and dried) vineyards-garden facilities were established on a total
8864 hectare area, fruited and non-fruited saplings were planted on the edges on the lands on
a 1665 km area and pistachio vaccination and supply were carried out on a 3549 hectare area.
Ordu-Giresun Rural Development Project (2000-2006)
Ordu-Giresun Rural development Plan is one of the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD) supported project started in 2000 and will be closed in 2006. The total
cost of the project is $51.2 of which $20 million will be supported by IFAD and $12.3
million by Islamic Development Bank.
The project goal is to enable rural poor people in Anatolia, particularly women, to improve
their incomes and living conditions through sustainable use of natural resources. The project
helps the poorest farmers and livestock keepers improve livestock, crop and forestry
production and encourages their participation in village development plans. It provides
assistance in developing alternative sources of income, such as bee-keeping and promotes
improvements in infrastructure, including roads village water systems. The project finances
32 small-scale irrigation systems, mainly in dry southern zones and deliver them to the water-
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users‟ groups that contributed to their design and construction. The project targets to totally
280 villages in Ordu and Giresun provinces.
Within the project implementation; Ordu Farmer Training Center came into service. The 80%
of the service building belonging to the Directorate of Apiculture Research Institute was
completed. The rehabilitation of service buildings in the provinces and districts were
conducted. The construction of the service building of Giresun Province Directorate reached
up to a point of completion.
The equipments (such as; fodder, harrow and mixer, silage machine, milk collection and milk
cooling tanks, wheat selector), information and office equipments, training tools, computers
and laboratory equipments were bought. Moreover, 4 automobiles, 20 pick-ups, 3 minibuses
and buses were bought within the scope of project.
Contribution of the project to the Region:
-Practices have been made in villages located at the south of region concerning the
diversification of vegetables. As a result of that an increase up to 100% in the productivity has
been reached.
-At the campus of directorate province of Giresun the Unit of Kiwi Rooting and Shading with
the capacity of 20.000 per year has been founded. Price fluctuations have been forestalled by
the production of sapling free of pest.
-Some measures concerning the marketing of kiwi have been put into practice to prevent the
problems which can arise in the future .the cooling depot with the capacity of 25.000 ton/year
has started to purchase the products since 2002.the basement of farmer education center
constructed in Ordu is used as cooling depot. Studies related to the installation of kiwi
marketing and packing unit, have been started.
Sivas-Erzincan Rural Development Project (2005-2010)
Sivas-Erzincan Rural Development Project is another IFAD supported project that will be
implemented between 2005-2010. The project cost $30 million, an IFAD loan of USD 13.1
million together with a USD 9.9 million loan from the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund and contributions from the government and beneficiaries
will support the government‟s efforts in the area.
About 200 villages in two of Turkey‟s poorest provinces will benefit from this USD 30.0
million project designed to improve agricultural production, expand employment
opportunities and foster community development. The seven-year project targets some 50 000
people in the provinces of Sivas-Erzincan where rural poverty is widespread.
Objectives:
Increasing the agricultural productivity and income level of the poor in the less developed
regions of Sivas ve Erzincan,
Extension of rural employment opportunities and supporting individual/group initiatives
in small family enterprises,
Improvement of the social and productive infrastructure,
Empowerment of the poor,
Improvement of the living standards of the poor
Institution building.
15
A key aspect of the Sivas-Erzincan project is community-driven development. The project
helps establish various village associations, including development committees, cooperatives,
women‟s farming groups and water users‟ and grazing associations and provides training and
technical assistance to their managers and members. It then works with groups to address
constraints on agricultural production such as limited access to basic financial services,
marketing opportunities and technical knowledge. It also establishes opportunities for
microenterprise that allow poor people to diversify their income.
3. Anatolia Watershed Rehabilitation Project (2004-2012)
Anatolia Watershed rehabilitation project is a World bank supported project for seven years
envisaged to start on 2004. Total cost of the project is about US$ 45 million of which US$ 20
million is Worlbank loan, US$ 7 million is GEF grant and US$ 9.5 million is national finance.
The contribution of beneficiaries corresponds to US$8,5 . The project will be implemented
in six provinces of Middle Anatolia and Black sea region - Samsun, Tokat,. Sivas, Kayseri,
Corum and Amasya. GEF-supported activities for reducing nutrient loads to waterbodies from
agricultural sources will be undertaken in four of the provinces – Samsun, Tokat, Corum and
Amasya.
The project‟s overall development objective is to support sustainable natural resource
management practices in 28 microcatchments in Anatolia and Turkey‟s Black Sea Region and
thereby raise incomes of communities affected by resource degradation. The key global
environment objectives are improving the management of pastures, rehabilitation of pasture
and forest areas, enhancing the vegetation of those areas, increasing the production of fodder
crops, reducing fallowed lands and adopting environment-friendly agricultural techniques,
carrying out a series of practices which will improve natural resources, in cultivated areas,
pasture and forest areas, including some agricultural practices, which will increase feed grains
and wood trees, encourage soil protective measures and maintain the humidity. Local people
will be assisted for some family income increasing activities including expanding the scope of
small-scale irrigation, terracing dry lands, horticulture and apiculture and improving local
husbandry. Beside this, necessary measures will be taken to evaluate and prevent the water
pollution in water flowing to the Black Sea.
Afforestation, erosion control, soil conservation, pasture rehabilitation, agriculture and
income generating activities are included in the Project.
15.PARTICIPATORY RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
In 2004 a new component called “Participatory Rural development Programme” was included
in ARIP (Agricultural reform and Implementation Programme) consisting of three sub-
components; I) land consolidation, II) Strengthening of Farmer organizations and III) village-
based participatory investment programme. The first sub-component aims at achieving an
optimal size of land holdings which are fragmented and scattered across the country. The
second one aims at strengthening the institutional capacity of farmer organisations
(cooperatives, irrigation unions, agricultural unions etc.).
Village Based Participatory Investment Program (2005-2007)
16
Within the “village-based participatory investment programme” the farmers and farmer
organizations will be supported through projects they have, themselves, prepared. Through
this component an implementation and procurement guideline and regulation for
implementation have been issued, including selection of eligible individuals and private
enterprises, eligibility of public investment, qualification of applicants and participants,
project expenditures to be funded by the programme, application and evaluation procedure,
monitoring and evaluation criteria, grant agreement and implementation procedures. The
programme has started and the application of the projects have been finished.
The aim of the scheme is to increase income in rural areas and to raise social standards by
conserving natural resources. Program activities target private and public agencies and
individuals, who agree with fulfillment of the Program‟s conditions and improvement of
socio-economic conditions in such regions.
Private Sector for investment projects, any individual who is occupied with agricultural
production personally and occupied with rural agribusinesses, companies classified as an
ordinary partnership, joint venture, unlimited company, limited liability company or a joint-
stock company as defined in the Turkish Commercial Code and the Civil Code, any
foundation established in accordance with provisions of the Foundations Law or the Civil
Code, any agricultural cooperatives and unions in accordance with related laws and
regulations are able to benefit from the programme. Beneficiaries should be registered with
National Farmer Registry System and/or any other registry system of the MARA and reside in
or own headquarter in one of the 16 provinces (Çanakkale, Denizli, Bolu, Konya, Karaman,
Burdur, Hatay, Niğde, Tokat, Artvin, Gümüşhane, Rize, Ardahan, Malatya, Adiyaman,
Batman).that the programme will be implemented.
Second group who will benefit is public sector investment project beneficiaries, District
governor‟s offices and Unions for Village Services supply.
Investment areas of the projects for public sector are limited to rehabilitation of village based
rural infrastructure facilities (sewage, drinking water, road and irrigation systems). For
investment projects that will be implemented by public sector 100 % of the Project will be
supported by public for private sector projects 50% of the Project will be supported by public
sector.
Investment areas of the projects for private sector are limited to; Maize drying and storage,
collection, cooling and processing of milk, storage, processing and packing of fruits and
vegetables, construction of greenhouses using alternative sources of energy (geothermal,
solar, wind, etc.), meat processing, food legumes processing and packing and bee products
processing and packing in selected provinces.
Land Consolidation (LC) Sub-Component of ARIP (2006-2007)
Land consolidation aims consolidation of highly fragmented agricultural lands-farm holdings
in selected provinces to improve agricultural productivity and construction of new roads
within the redesigned layout of parcels through the financing of works and technical services
by enabling farmers to have fewer, larger and better-shaped parcels.
17
Major beneficiaries of the program are farmers who are living in Amasya, Kayseri, Karaman,
Samsun, Konya, Denizli, Burdur provinces.
All LC activities supported by the project will be implemented according to the principle of
obtaining consent from no less than two thirds of the population who own more than %51 of
the land to be consolidated. There will be no actual physical relocation of residences of
farmers, nor will other built assets of farmers be removed.
The ARIP supported LC activities will include the roads and other construction and technical
services for LC process and redesigned parcel layouts. The total cost of the Project is totally
10.7 million Euro.
Institutional Reinforcement of Farmers’ Organization (IRFO)
The aim of the IRFO is to provide a conductive environment for the development of Farmer
Organizations (FOs) through much expanded training and technical assistance.
IRFO will provide comprehensive management and organizational support to about 400 of the
FOs operating in Turkey in different sub-sectors and training and education services to
members, elected officials, managers and staff of another 2,100 village-based FOs. In
addition, IRFO activities will support capacity building at selected regional and national
service and apex organizations.
The aim of the scheme is to provide training and educational services to members, elected
officials, managers, and staff of village based farmers‟ organizations in the selected provinces
to support capacity building activities.
The project is commenced at the provinces of Çanakkale, Balıkesir, Konya and Burdur and is
planned to be extended to Samsun, Tokat, Diyarbakır, Batman, Malatya, Afyon, Antalya and
Bursa, in the coming years. For strengthening the administrative and technical capacity of the
Farmers‟ Organizations being operated in these provinces, support will be given for practical
and theoretical training of 67500 members from 1350 Farmers‟ Organizations.
Planned activities are as follows:
- To encourage/support the implementation of plans of work and development of plans of
Farmers‟ Organizations as well as implementation of agricultural investment projects,
- To set up top-unions and capacity building, and
- To encourage/provide active contribution of Farmers‟ Organizations into the works of
harmonisation of the EU legislation.
The total budget of project foreseen is 10,6 million USA $ (contribution of the World Bank to
the total budget is 8,5 million $)
16. ENVIRONMENTALLY BASED AGRICULTURAL LAND PROTECTION
(ÇATAK) PROGRAM (2006-2007)
Within the framework of the agricultural strategy paper and by adoption of By-law on
“Support to Producers who Prefer Agricultural Practices foreseen in the Environmentally
18
Based Agricultural Land Protection Program” the implementation started in 2006 in pilot
areas of Isparta, Kayseri, Kırşehir and Konya on a total area of 5,000 ha .
The objective of the program is to reduce adverse effects of agricultural practices on
environment, to prevent erosion, to sustain renewable natural resources, to protect the natural
cover and the quality of soil and water in the vulnerable areas.
The payment will be made under 3 categories;
Category 1)
a) Erosion combat (embankment, fencing for protection, application of ideal
tillage techniques (contour tillage) and/or leaving the land uncultivated for
protection reasons)
b) Land improvement
c) Drainage
d) Stone collection
If the producer prefers to practice two or more of the above mentioned techniques in
replacement of their current production practices they will be awarded an annual payment per
hectare for a total of 3 years.
Category 2)
a) Practicing suitable irrigation techniques
b) Controlled usage of pesticide, fertilizers and hormones.
c) Usage of organic, green and barn fertilizers compost etc.
d) Application of organic production and Good Agricultural Practices
If the producer prefers to practice two or more of the above mentioned techniques in addition
to their current production practices, or in replacement of their current practices they will be
awarded an annual payment per hectare for a total of 3 years.
Category 3)
a) Establishing permanent plant coverage,
b) Improvement of existing or formulation of new grass meadows.
c) Prevention of excessive grazing.
d) Production of fodder plants
If the producer prefers to practice two or more of the above mentioned techniques in addition
to their current production practices, or in replacement of their current practices they will be
awarded an annual payment per hectare for a total of 3 years.
17. Lessons learned
IFAD projects: Turkey has attempted to implement five previous investment projects with
IFAD loans. These projects have often been plagued by delayed starts and slow
implementation.
Management and coordination: Multi-component, „integrated‟ rural development projects
involving several implementing agencies, each with its separate budget centre, have proved to
be unsuccessful in the context of the bureaucratic culture of Turkey. Future interventions
should avoid complex design and be more narrowly focused in the choice of activity mix.
Counterpart funding: In a situation of budgetary austerity, lack of counterpart funding has
emerged as a major problem. The reason for this is that even when donor funds are available,
their use is constrained by the limited spending capacity of implementing agencies due to
19
drastic cutbacks in budgetary allocations, and restrictions on new procurement or the
employment of additional staff.
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community-based organisations (CBOs):
Innovative solutions need to be found to encourage greater involvement of NGOs and CBOs
not just as providers of project support services, but also as proactive agents of social
mobilization and change management. Because of inadequate rural infrastructure and low
productivity levels in the poor provinces, the private sector generally has insufficient
incentive to fill the vacuum caused by the gradual curtailment of the state's direct role in input
and service provision in rural development projects. In addition, very few local, and virtually
no foreign, NGOs are operating in agricultural and rural development projects and
programmes, and none has been directly involved in IFAD work. In the context of rural
development, CBOs are thus essentially limited to cooperatives. However, many of these –
particularly the sales cooperatives and their unions – are state-controlled and operate at a
(usually huge) deficit. Some producer cooperatives have begun to emerge as voluntary
associations and may link up with large processing or retailing outlets under various types of
"contract farming" arrangements. Such cooperative enterprises need to be promoted more
systematically.
Beneficiary participation: Policy changes have not yet been reflected in practical project
implementation with regard to true participation. Consultation with the village populations
has usually been only nominal and has mostly been conducted through the village head
(mukhtar). Moreover, progress has been limited in organizing farmers into water users‟
associations or other forms of beneficiary groups capable of assuming an active role in
decision-making processes and in project implementation.
Rural finance and credit: Experience has highlighted the difficulties the poor face in
accessing formal rural financial services. To compensate for the unwillingness of the
country‟s major rural finance institution, the Ziraat Bank, to serve poor rural clients, the
Government established a number of subsidized lending bodies, including agricultural credit
cooperatives and a forest village fund (known as the Orkoy Fund). These bodies were of
limited outreach, however, and proved to be financially weak and unsustainable. Furthermore,
the operations of the country‟s financial system have been greatly complicated by the high
rates of inflation that have been a feature of Turkey‟s overall macroeconomic management
over the past 20 years. The high cost of commercial credit has greatly diminished the
willingness and ability of farmers, especially small and poor farmers, to borrow from
commercial sources. The result is that agriculture has been further deprived of investment
resources.
18. Rural Development and EU Integration
In addition to the rural development projects implemented in accordance with national
strategies and goals, Turkey has been preparing for accession to the EU since 1999, when it
was officially adopted as a candidate country by the EU. Within the framework of integration
into the EU, studies are being conducted in parallel with the priorities identified in the
Accession Partnership Document for Turkey, in which the preparation of the National Rural
Development Strategy was a short-term priority, and the establishment of institutional
capacity for the implementation of the EU's rural development policy was a medium-term
priority.
In this framework, the National Rural Development Strategy has been prepared in conformity
with the national, sectoral and spatial policies of Turkey. During the preparatory stages a
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participatory approach was followed and a working group was established, including all the
relevant partners of rural development in Turkey. The National Rural Development Strategy
will form a basis for Sustainable Rural Development and will be financed from national
funds, EU support and other international financial resources.
For the new programming period 2007-13 the European Commission is working on
preparation of a new Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) replacing all the current
EU pre-accession assistance instruments such as PHARE, ISPA, SAPARD and CARDS. IPA
has a component which covers matters of rural development (known as IPARD). The IPARD
serves as the framework for supporting sustainable agricultural and rural development in EU
applicant countries during the pre-accession period. It aims to solve problems affecting the
long-term adjustment of the agricultural sector and rural areas, to help implement the
Community acquis in matters of the common agricultural policy (CAP) and related policies.
In order to make use of the IPA funds to be provided in the field of rural development, Turkey
needs to prepare a Rural Development Plan (IPARD Plan) for the years from 2007 to 2013
which will form the basis for financing the rural development measures under the IPA and
establish an implementing/paying agency (IPARD Agency).
Subject to ex-post checks, all responsibility for managing the funds is devolved from the
European Commission to the beneficiary country once the conferral of management of the
IPARD Agency is decided on by the European Commission and the rural development plan
prepared by the beneficiary country is adopted by the Commission. This system will have a
positive impact on the absorption capacity of the rural development funds after accession.
This acquired experience will be an excellent way to prepare Turkey for Rural Development
Fund (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development- EAFRD) and Agricultural Fund
management (European Agricultural Fund for Guarantee-EAFG).
IPARD focuses in particular the priority actions; Investments in farms to restructure and up-
grade to EU standards, Investments in processing and marketing of agriculture and fishery
products to restructure and up-grade to EU standards, Improving and developing rural
infrastructure,Development and diversification of rural economic activities, Producer groups,
Agri-environment and animal welfare schemes (at pilot level), Preparation of rural
communities to conceive and implement local rural development strategies and integrated
rural development strategies through local partnerships (at pilot level), Vocational Training
and Technical assistance.
The most appropriate measures for Turkey‟s needs will be selected for the IPA rural
development plan. Two working groups were established, one of them responsible for
drafting the Rural Development Plan and the other for institutional framework and for
establishing the IPARD Agency, including the representatives from the relevant institutions
on rural development, and the European Commission was informed about the working
groups.
In order to provide support to carry out the harmonization to EU requirements regarding rural
development policy, two EU-supported projects will be implemented within the framework of
the financial cooperation programme. One of them is the Preparation for the Implementation
of EU CAP (TR 0402.08) aiming at the preparation of a Rural Development Plan and the
establishment of institutional capacity and building and Integrated Administrative Control
System (IACS).
21
The second project which was approved within the framework of the financial cooperation
programme includes the establishment of a rural development agency (IPARD Agency) which
will implement and pay to the beneficiaries the funds coming from the EU.
19.Agricultural Master Plans
The Agricultural Master Plans for 81 provinces of Turkey have already been prepared by an
FAO-supported project (TCP/TUR/8924) and the agricultural situation for each province of
Turkey is now available. The important challenge in the planning of the Agricultural Master
Plans was the preparation of the Agricultural Plans by participatory approach and by
provincial level through the bottom-up method. In this way, the development strategy in the
country has been switched to local planning, resulting in the strengthening of local institutions
and provincial administration. In the process of preparation of the Master Plans,
Governmental and Non-Governmental Institutions, universities and the private sector were
involved. Within the local planning approach, the local actors related to the agricultural and
rural sectors have been encouraged to make plans and to use their own judgement. The Master
Plan of each province includes:
The development conditions, policies and current strategies and plans
The main characteristics and current agricultural situation of the province
An agricultural resources inventory in which the detailed agricultural resources
(renewable and non-renewable natural resources, physical capital resources, human
and institutional resources, the applicability of resources and environmental risks) are
indicated
A review of the agricultural situation; performance and expectations
The problems, potentials and restrictions (SWOT Analysis)
The development of objectives and strategies
The applicable projects and programmes for the province.
The Agricultural Master Plans are not only a guideline and reference for the decision makers
dealing with agricultural and rural development, but also for the private sector in determining
profitable investments in the province. Furthermore, the local population is aware of the real
situation and the solutions needed to increase its economic welfare. In this way the limited
resources of the area will be used more efficiently and effectively, and real solutions will
reach the people in the area more rapidly than before.
Following the completion of the Agricultural Master Plans of the 81 provinces, the studies to
prepare the Regional Master Plans of the Country have been started and are currently
continuing. After the completion of the Regional Master Plans, it is targeted to prepare the
National Agricultural Master Plan of Turkey, which will identify the agricultural potential,
opportunities, restrictions and agricultural advantages of the country compared to other
countries. Furthermore, the National Agricultural Master Plan will be the main reference in
determining the agricultural strategies and in the preparation of the Agricultural and Rural
Development parts of the National Development Plans.
22
20. Recent Policy Framework
Rural development and agricultural approaches have differed over time in the framework of
technological developments and the harmonization to the external policies such as European
Union and WTO and they have displayed variations in practice according to countries' the
cultural, social, economic and administrative characteristics.
The agricultural sector still plays a key role in Turkey especially in rural areas. New policies
aim to increase the competitiveness of the agricultural sector oriented to the market needs and
achieving the sustainability of rural areas in which most of the agricultural production is
carried out. In the framework of the rural development, particular attention has been given in
the National Plans to support for non-farming activities in the services and industry sectors to
accelerate their economic development by taking their needs and assets as a basis. The
initiatives encouraging innovation, entrepreneurship and private-sector investments have been
carried out and development of human resources and governance mechanisms with public-
private sector cooperation, and meeting the infrastructural needs have been emphasized.
In addition – for reasons such as economic stagnation and retrogression in rural areas, the
concentration of poverty in rural areas and the destruction of natural resources – rural
development policies have been addressed through approaches with a human and
environmental focus. The concept of sustainability has become important. Policies to protect
the environment and the natural and cultural resources of rural areas, so that subsequent
generations can enjoy these opportunities, have been included in the programming.
Since rural development is multi-dimensional and covers various sectors, attention has been
given to cooperation between agencies and partnership has become important recently.
The decentralisation concept in implementing the policies has been introduced recently and
local administration capacities have been strengthened; the “bottom-up approach” has been
adopted in recent policies; and the importance of participation has been emphasised.
The programming of the rural development policies of the country in a plan specialising only
in rural development has been introduced and the National Rural Development Strategy,
which will form the basis for the National Rural Development Plan (2007-2013) has been
adopted. Also Agricultural Strategy Paper was published which is a policy framework for
agriculture and rural development.
Recent rural development policies have three main dimensions, which are economic, social
and environmental. These three dimensions should be complementary and consistent with
each other targeting to improve the quality of life of people in rural areas, to build a
competitive agricultural sector, to enable the sustainability of rural areas and to diversify the
economic activities.
The most important obstacle in front of rural development is disorganized agricultural
structure. To make agricultural sector more productive, it is necessary to put the agricultural
reform including land consolidation and reparcelling into action.
23
In addition to landless families in rural areas, there are also a number of land-owners who
have postponed agricultural production due to unprofitable production conditions.
The rate of landless forest villagers is accounted 10 %. Conditions of landless people who live
at the borders of forest areas should be taken into account while new settlement areas
determined. Since forest villagers have been forced to immigrate to metropolis as a
consequence of insufficient job opportunities, this undesirable social problem has to be
considered urgently.
Prospected rural development policies should cover integration of agriculture, forest and
industry, in order to keep the rural community in their natural environment.
New rural development policies in Turkey have to consider that agricultural holdings have to
be brought into economic size which operates optimum point.
Professional commodity base agricultural holdings such as livestock, fish, bees holdings
should be foster by government in order to tackle marketing difficulties via increasing food
quality and safety.
24
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Özcan, N., Rural Development in Turkey, 20 TH meeting of the EU-Turkey Joint
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25
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